Claravale Farm is a well-known dairy product distributor located in the state of California. The company lives up to their motto by producing “pure, natural and raw” dairy products for their customers, which includes raw, unpasteurized milk products. Among these raw milk varieties include goat milk, known for its nutritional and health benefits.

With a nutrient profile similar to that of cow’s milk, goat milk’s additional health benefits is what draws a consumer’s attention. More notably, goat milk contains less allergenic proteins, easily digestible fats and proteins, and lower in cholesterol. For more information about the benefits of goat milk, please visit this site.

Drinking goat milk does not seem to be quite a bad idea; however, consuming raw goat milk on the other hand, might be. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States warns consumers about the risks associated with drinking raw milk. Although raw, unpasteurized milk is nutritionally dense, it contains a wide variety of disease-causing bacteria, including Brucella, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Mycobacterium bovis, Listeria, and Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli. Any individual that drinks raw milk has the risk of consuming such bacteria; thus, increasing the risk of illness. The risk of illness from consumption is particularly high for infants and young children, elderly, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems.

On June 2015, the Health Officials in Orange County, California confirmed three cases of campylobacteriosis linked with Claravale Farm, due to the consumption of raw goat milk. The three cases were three young children less than 5 years of age. One of the children was hospitalized, but fortunately, all three were expected to fully recover. Campylobacteriosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria, Campylobacter. Its symptoms are seen within two to five days after exposure, and typically include diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever. This infectious bacterium is commonly associated with contaminated water, poultry, produce, and in this case, unpasteurized dairy products.

The risk of getting campylobacteriosis is not solely limited to consuming raw goat milk; it applies to other raw, unprocessed products as well. Earlier in year during March 2015, six individuals from North California were diagnosed with campylobacteriosis after drinking Claravale Farm’s raw milk. The farm’s raw milk and cream products were then subjected to a statewide recall when the California Department of Public Health tested positive for Campylobacter. A similar situation occurred previously in March 2012, where positive test results for Campylobacter led to a statewide recall of Claravale Farm’s raw products.

Claravale Farm is a strong and passionate company that is proud of their raw products, as demonstrated by their statement found on their company website:

“Raw milk is unique in that it is the only significant source of a complete food in our diet that is not processed in some form being eaten. For instance, the enzymes are all available, whereas in pasteurized milk, less than 10% remain. What this means, is that your body can more readily utilize all of the nutrition that is available in this milk. That’s good for you, and it’s great for your kids!”

Truthfully, there is no ‘perfect’ milk product. Indeed, pasteurized milk lacks the enzymes and natural nutrient profile found in raw milk. However, pasteurized milk also lacks the wide range of disease-causing bacteria raw milk contains. It is the pasteurization process that helps eliminate such bacteria to produce a food safe product ready for consumption. Yet, it is also the pasteurization process that eliminates the beneficial enzymes and natural nutrient profile present in the raw milk. This can be an on-going debate, but ultimately, the decision is upon the consumer, you.

What is your ultimate decision? Raw or processed milk?

Interested in the taste difference between goat’s milk and cow’s milk?

While I believe that buying raw milk should be an individual choice and each individual should decide if the health benefits outweigh the risk of disease, I am not comfortable with the idea of individuals buying raw milk products and feeding raw milk products to their children. Children are more immunological acceptable to food borne pathogens and the outcomes of contracting a food borne pathogen can be more severe than in a healthy adult. For this reason I am against the sale of raw milk products because once in the consumers hand there is no way to control who he/she shares these raw milk products with.

Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk products, however, I believe that responsibility falls on everyone to prevent cases of food bourne illness. Manufacturers should be responsible for upholding the regulations for such products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed in the dangers associated with the products before purchasing and feeding them to people who are highly susceptible to food bourne illnesses. Raw milk itself has many benefits and it would be unfair to ban it from the market if it was deemed safe to consume.

Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk and its products, however, I believe that the responsiblity falls on everyone to prevent food bourne illness. Manufacturers should uphold the regulations set for these types of products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed and to be aware of the dangers associated with feeding these types of products to people who are highly susceptible to food boure illnesses. Raw milk products have many benefits as stated above, it would be unfair to exclude them from the market due to the chance of careless practices, as long as they are deemed safe to consume.

A small portion of the population, such as dairy farmers, would have immunity to most of the bacteria found in raw milk since they been exposed to that environment for a period of time. But most people in the urban areas do not have this immunity and would have a much higher risk of getting sick, especially the elderly and young children. As for obtaining loss nutrients it can be complement with other food source. I am against the sales of raw milk to the general public because the risk is too high. Food safety is key to public health.

Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk and its products, however, I believe that the responsibility falls on everyone to prevent food borne illness. Manufacturers should uphold the regulations set for these types of products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed and to be aware of the dangers associated with feeding these types of products to people who are highly susceptible to food borne illnesses. Raw milk products have many benefits over pasteurized milk products as stated above, it would be unfair to exclude them from the market due to the chance of careless practices that might cause food borne illness, even if they were deemed safe to consume.

Although I do agree that the choice is ultimately on the consumer whether or not to purchase raw milk and its products, however, I believe that the responsibility falls on everyone to prevent the onset of food borne illnesses due to contaminated products. Manufacturers should uphold the regulations set for these types of products to ensure that their goods are within certain quality standards. Consumers should make an effort to be well informed and to be aware of the dangers associated with feeding these types of products to people who are highly susceptible to food borne illnesses. Raw milk products have many benefits over the pasteurized varieties as stated above, it would be unfair to exclude them from the market due to the chance of careless practices, even if they were deemed safe to consume.

I personally also feel that raw milk should not be available for purchase because of all that pathogens present causing harm that would have been killed off with pasteurization. However on the other hand, are we able to actually take away the choice to purchase raw milk from the consumers who are adamant on consuming it? If there is enough demand for it, producers would continue producing and selling it. For raw milk consumers, they should be educated on both the benefits and detrimental effects of consuming raw milk. I know people who are quite obsessed with consuming all natural products and actually try to promote drinking raw milk to others by talking about all the benefits and none of the harm. This is a problem especially if the people they are promoting to do not know about the pathogens associated with raw milk. For this aspect, I feel that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done with educating the general public on the line that needs to be drawn between wanting to consume less processed foods and to the point where it becomes a risk to human health.

In my opinion, I feel that raw milk should not be readily available for purchase due to all the pathogens present, which could cause a lot of harm when pasteurization could have killed them off. However on the other hand, are we able to actually take away the choice from consumers who are adamant on purchasing and consuming raw milk? If there is enough demand for it, producers would continue producing and selling it. For raw milk consumers, they should be educated on both the benefits and detrimental effects of consuming raw milk. I know some people who really enjoy consuming unprocessed foods and are trying to promote drinking raw milk to others by talking about all the benefits, but none of the harm. This is a problem especially if the people they are promoting to do not know about the pathogens associated with raw milk. For this aspect, I feel that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done with educating the general public on the line that needs to be drawn between wanting to consume less processed foods and to the point where it becomes a risk to human health.

Personally, I prefer consuming pasteurized milk not only because I am used to the taste, but for my own safety. However, like many have already stated, there are pros and cons to both types. As Catherine mentioned, banning the products may not be as easy as it seems because many who enjoy raw milk and would be devastated if there was a ban in place. Indeed the prohibition of raw milk would not be fair for consumers as it restricts their choices. I believe that for a product such as this, there should be a new policy in which there are warnings required on the label of the milk. Similar to how tobacco is sold in Canada, there should be warnings of possible risks that come with the product. The consumer is still given the option of purchasing the milk but they can be more informed of the consequences and be given specifications on who is less suitable to consume the product (children under 5, seniors, immuno-compromised, etc.). I am not sure if there should be an age limit required to buy this product, but I definitely think that informing risks will help people understand and react quicker should there ever be presence of campylobacter bacteria.

As a consumer, I would drink raw goat milk from an approved producer, providing that its operations meet the established food safety guidelines of the government regulatory agency. There are many high risk food items out on the market and restaurants. I do think the supplier should provide sufficient food safety information on the products so the consumer can make a well-informed decision. As kids are one of the high-risk group to food poisoning, the company should emphasize the food safety risks associated with kids consuming raw goat milk. Especially when they sell their milk using statement such as “Great for your kids”.

I understand that Canada does not allow raw milk to be sale in the market. Therefore, I do not think there is a negotiate point in Canada rather raw milk should be consume or not. According to this article, raw milk seems to be allowed to sale in America. Therefore, it will be interesting to know what extra step America takes to prevent outbreak caused by raw milk. Also, it will be interesting to have a professional to share the difference in regulation/ microbe protocol in America.

Although raw milk may have several health benefits such as digestible fats and lower cholesterol levels, the health risks are far greater. For this reason, I feel that raw milk should not be sold to consumers without stating the health risks associated with it. Ultimately, the consumer should be able to make a choice whether or not to take that risk. Furthermore, there should be an indication on the packaging regarding the risk groups such as children and immunocompromised people who may have a greater chance of falling ill from consuming raw milk.

As many have already stated, I also believe that raw milk should remain prohibited in Canada. Although there are many health benefits associated with raw milk, the negative consequences are too severe to risk the population to consume raw milk. Also, we live in a location where food availability is relatively abundant thus there are so many other alternatives where those nutrients can be consumed. I don’t think it is necessary to allow production of raw milk and risk the outbreaks that may result as a result. Also, as many are already adapted to and familiar with the taste of pasteurized milk, even if raw milk becomes available, I don’t think it would be consumed widely despite the nutritious aspects that it provides. Additionally, I would personally prefer to drink milk that I can trust its safety rather than milk that I need to be cautious of so many different diseases everytime I drink.

As a milk drinker, I personally prefer safe pasteurized milk rather than the nourishing raw milk. Food safety is the most critical point when I purchase food products. It is true that choosing raw milk or not is a very personal choice. Some raw food zealots are eating all kinds of food in raw. However, those beneficial enzymes and nutrients in the raw milk might be uptake from other type of food. Even if the enzymes and nutrients in the raw goat milk are unique , we can still uptake these nutrients from the supplements, but they are not that essential for our metabolism or health. On the other hand, there is a high risk to get sick or even severe diseases by consuming the raw milk. Not speaking of different kinds of negative effects of the following medical treatments for the sickness. In my opinion, it is not worth taking the risk to drink raw milk, which will be more likely to get infected by the bacteria in it. Government should prohibit the sale of raw milk to ensure the food safety of most people.

As a milk drinker, I prefer safe pasteurized milk rather than nourishing raw milk. The safety of the food will be the most critical point when I purchase food products. It is true that choosing to purchase raw milk or not is a very personal choice. Some raw food zealots are eating all kinds of food in raw. However, the enzymes and nutrients in the raw milk might be uptake from other kinds of food. Even if the enzymes and nutrients in the raw goat milk are unique, we can still uptake them from the supplements, but these nutrients are not essential for our body metabolism or health. Not consuming those nutrients won’t hazard our health. On the other hand, the bacteria in the raw milk will be more likely to cause sickness or even severe diseases. Not speaking of the negative effects of the following medical treatments. In my opinion, it is not worth taking the risk to consume raw milk which has the high possibility to threaten your health. Government should prohibit the sale of raw milk to ensure the food safety of most people.

I suppose one of the biggest contradiction between raw and pasteurized milk is that what is the point of drinking milk when the all the available nutrients are depleted in a pasteurized milk? With most of the benefits swept away, is there really a need to drink milk? Of course, many people prefer drinking milk because they like the taste of it, so I suppose drinking fortified pasteurized milk (adding nutrients that were lost back into the milk due to pasteurization) would probably satisfy both the hazardous concerns and taste buds. I am not a milk drinker myself because I do not enjoy the taste very much and I have not tried raw milk before, so this issue does not really bother me. However, I do believe in consuming products in the most natural state and in the least processed way as much as possible due to their bioavailability. I believe that raw milk could help promote different types of microbiota to flourish in our gut, which could lead us to better prevent from contracting different types of diseases. If we strip away the nutrients from raw milk, I feel that it would just be useless and wasting our money on something that we do not necessarily need.

The practice of drinking fresh camel milk originated from Qatar tradition. Drinking fresh camel milk is practiced in semi-arid and arid areas of African and Asian countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and any other regions you can imagine people riding on camels.

Camel milk got famous for its nutritious content along with its therapeutic effects in diabetes, autism, and allergies. The nutrient profile of camel milk is pretty impressive that it is actually more nutritious than cow’s milk. Camel milk is low in fat, high in iron and other anti-oxidants. What is more, camel milk resembles the milk of human, which might indicate that it could be more suitable for our nutritional needs. For such benefits, the demand for camel milk is increasing, as it is to be introduced in European market in the future.

The bad news is, that consuming fresh camel milk can lead us to be infected with Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni), a leading foodborne pathogen around the world. Infection by C.jejuni can manifest a variety of symptoms including diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and even inflammatory bowel disease. The cause of the infection can be tracked back to the fact that the milk is consumed in the raw state.

Since the regions where people have the tradition of fresh camel milk consumption are developing or semi-developed countries, they do not have proper refrigeration facilities during the milking process and transportation. Moreover, milk is often kept in high ambient temperature, increasing the risks of C.jejuni growth. The bacteria can get into the milk by cross contamination through feces or directly from the udder of the camel into the milk during milking. A study estimating the illness from the consumption of C.jejuni-containing milk showed that the more you drink, the more you are likely to get sick (obvious). However, one interesting finding was that men are more vulnerable of getting the illness from the bacteria than women.

Despite of poor hygienic measures in camel milk production, no outbreak has been reported in Saudi Arabia area. A study notes that the survival of Campylobacter bacteria is low in the intestinal tracts of camels due to high concentration of hydrogen gas present in the rumen. Thus, camel milk may not be a major source of Campylobacter bacteria infections. Instead, pathogens like Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in larger numbers.

Nonetheless, the fecal samples collected from the camels did contain Campylobacter, even though it was a very small number. Poor handling of the camel milk would result in higher chances of the bacteria growth. Pasteurization processes or acid fermentation are recommended as preventative measures.

As people’s interest is growing in camel milk, more studies are to be done in the future to figure out the exact benefits of the food and the methods to prevent any foodborne pathogens including Campylobacter. For now, establishing a formal microbiological standards regarding camel milk should be prioritized, since there are none.

This is actually very interesting. I didn’t know that people would consume camel’s milk. If the nutrition content is similar to human’s milk, I wonder if the taste is similar as well? If businesses started processing camel milk and adding flavours to it, I think that it would become a big thing especially that it helps with diabetes, autism and allergies (what allergies though?).

I was not aware that camel milk had such a high nutritional content and even had some therapeutic benefit as well. However, consuming raw milk is a huge issue because of the risk of food borne illness associated with bacterial contamination of the milk. I wonder if camels milk were to be pasteurized if it would lose some of its nutritional value due to heat sensitive nutrients and thus its appeal?

I personally think that it is fine to consume camel’s milk as cow’s milk is not easily accessible everywhere especially in the Qatar and Saudi Arabia regions. However, people should be well educated in regard to the potential health consequences of consuming raw milk and effective intervention strategies should be introduced and enforced to combat against the growth of Campylobacter in camel’s milk. This can potentially be achieved by investing in more refrigeration facilities and also making it mandatory for all milk products to be pasteurized. In addition, I am just wondering besides acid fermentation, are there any other ways to prolong the shelf life of milk without the use of refrigeration facilities (since they do not have proper refrigeration facilities)?

I personally think that it is fine to consume camel’s milk as cow’s milk is not easily accessible everywhere especially in the Qatar and Saudi Arabia regions. However, people should be well educated about the potential consequences of consuming raw milk and effective intervention strategies should be introduced to combat against the possible growth of food borne pathogens in camel’s milk. This can be done by investing in more refrigeration facilities and making it mandatory to pasteurize all milk products before they reach the consumers.On another note, I am just wondering besides acid fermentation, are there any other ways to prolong the shelf-life of milk while adhering to the food safe standards without the use of refrigeration facilities (since most household residents couldn’t afford to buy a refrigerator)?

I personally think that it is fine to consume camel’s milk as cow’s milk is not easily accessible everywhere especially in the Qatar and Saudi Arabia regions. However, people should be well educated about the potential consequences of consuming raw milk and effective intervention strategies should be enforced to combat against the possible growth of food borne pathogens in camel’s milk. This can be done by investing in more refrigeration facilities and making it mandatory to pasteurize all milk products before they reach the consumers. Lastly, I am just wondering besides acid fermentation, are there any other ways to prolong the shelf-life of milk while adhering to the food safe standards without the use of refrigeration facilities (since most household residents couldn’t afford to buy a refrigerator)?

Despite the health claims above, I am unconvinced that camel milk is a superfood. Management of diabetes depends on both physical activity and obtaining nutrients from a variety of food sources. With unregulated commercialization, there are many avenues along the food supply chain where pathogens, other than Campylobacter spp., could be introduced to raw milk. Health costs would greatly outweigh the nutritional benefits, which ultimately defeat the therapeutic purpose of camel milk. However, camel milk has the potential to be marketed as a nutritious alternative to cow milk after the fresh milk has been treated, e.g. pasteurization. Fortification could also be employed to compensate for the nutrients lost during processing.

It was interesting that Kathy noted no reported Campylobacter spp. outbreaks in Saudi Arabia from camel milk. This could be due to poor surveillance programs or the lack of reporting. Since locals use camel milk as a nutritious and traditional food source, would they have a higher concentration of antibodies and appear asymptomatic to foodborne diseases?

Really interesting post, Kathy! I have heard about the use of raw camel milk in some Middle Eastern countries for the treatment of many ailments including cancer. After doing some further reading into this topic, I found a few more articles which reported benefits from the consumption of raw camel milk. As we have learned, having no kill step (ie. no pasteurization) can allow for the growth of microbes that when consumed can cause sickness. I wonder if camel milk is also consumed by young children? Since children don’t have a fully established natural microflora, the microbes in camel milk may be able to establish and outcompete the natural bacteria present in the the GI, making the child severely ill. Are there any regulations surrounding this?
I have to agree with Jasmine, it seems as though the potential harm that could be done, outweighs the benefits that may be seen as a result of the consumption of the milk. I am also wondering if the people who regularly consume this milk have some sort of resistance towards the bacteria preventing them from getting sick, perhaps a potential explanation for the low occurrence of FBI in Saudi Arabia.

Interesting blog! Personally, i think camel milk would be a successful dairy alternative in the developed world (if we don’t make it a taboo product!) since it is lower in fat, higher in iron, etc. than cow’s milk. Also, developed nations have more resources to process, pasteurize, store, market, etc. this product. On the other hand, perhaps the lower fat content is not as desirable for the health of the greater population of a less developed nation. This is especially true for infants who require higher fat content and not to mention that these potential bacterial contamination are most harmful to young children. I guess it’s true with the saying that “we want what we can’t get/don’t have.”

Very interesting. I haven’t heard about camel milk consumption before. I agree with Silvia that developed countries are better able to handle/process camel milk but I also wonder how that can be transported, for example, from Saudi Arabia to North America. I also read from another article that camel milk is low in lactose (compared to cow milk), which could make it popular among consumers who are lactose intolerant.

This is actually a vert interesting article. I have never thought of drinking camel milk nor have I known camel as a potential reservoir for C. jejuni. I have tried goat milk before, and the taste was not very pleasing, so I wonder what does camel milk taste like? Like Norris said, if camel milk in low in lactose, it would be a really good source of nutrient for those that are lactose intolerant. However, I just have a question: in your article, you have only mentioned that C. jejuni was isolated from camel feces and that due to the presence of H2 in the camel gut, the concentration of Campylobacter is actually not too high. So what is actually the concentration of Campylobacter in camel milk and will it actually pose a threat to human? Besides, we know that Campylobacter is fragile when it is not in the animal gut.

Interesting article! I was also not aware of the proposed therapeutic effects of camel milk, but I think this is an important factor to think about in terms of food safety because of the people who will be attracted to consuming it for these reasons. In our lecture we learned that most fatal infections occur in infants, the elderly or immune-suppressed people, so I think it’s highly likely that people looking for the therapeutic effects could also be among this vulnerable group of individuals. In that case, it would be important to have better food safety procedures or clear warnings of the risks of drinking the milk. It wouldn’t be good for people to drink the milk looking to help one disease only to get really sick from Campylobacter.

I found this to be a very interesting article. I wonder if camel milk can be a good nutritious food source if it is handled and processed adequately. Since it was mentioned that camel milk is similar to human milk in term of nutrients content, for the people who live in the Asian area may be unable to obtain cow’s milk for consumption, this may provide a good alternative. Campylobacter (jejuni) was consider a more “fragile” bacteria. I think processing intervention can easily get rid of the bacteria for safe consumption. However we still need to deal with the other bacteria related to foodborne illness in the camel milk.

They should really consider importing these milk to Canada! I’m sure health-focused Canadians would be interested in giving camel’s milk a taste. It has actually been reported that camels are a carrier of the coronavirus that is known to cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). As a fun fact, people actually also drink camel urine (can you imagine how it will taste?!) and the WHO is greatly against it and has been warning people not to do that. Camel milk is also a carrier of the Brucella bacterium and these bacteria can cause Brucellosis in humans. People are taking quite a risk drinking camel milk raw. To go back to our topic of Camypobacter, it’s best for young children, elderly, immunocompromised indivuduals to stay away from drinking raw camel milk because complications from campylobacteriosis can occur.

My thinking is that it is probably cheaper to have camel’s milk than cow’s milk in those regions considering there are likely more camels around. I wonder why the governments there have not considered actually pasteurizing the milk considering it’s popularity.

I also read another article about someone who ended up drinking camel milk for a month (https://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/features/a/25468433/i-drank-camel-milk-for-a-month-heres-what-happened/). Like you mentioned in the article, this is popularly consumed raw, and the woman who did this challenge also mentioned that she was sold this raw. People believe that the effects are so much better if so – that could be why pasteurization has not been thought of [in terms of these two countries]. In the end, the woman claims that her digestion is a lot better and that it even shrunk her stomach appearance. Placebo effect or is it real? I guess we will never know unless we specifically study the science behind it.

Interesting topic! In countries where camel’s milk is popular, such as Qatar, pasteurization may not be a priority because this milk is traditionally consumed raw and the people in these regions have perhaps developed immunity to possible infection of Campylobacter. In addition, pasteurization is costly and time consuming so this processing may not be feasible in these regions. I think camel’s milk would spark interest in consumers in North America since there are many nutritional benefits and it also serves as an alternative to cow’s milk! I have never seen camel’s milk sold in Canada but I assume that if the products were to be imported and sold in local grocery stores, there would be regulations to ensure that this milk is pasteurized. On the other hand, I wonder if the nutritional value of camel’s milk would change after pasteurization?

Interesting, I didn’t know camel milk was that popular. Although, consuming unpasteurized products is a a serious issue, contamination with pathogens is very likely to occur. In my opinion, it is better to consume less nutritious products, but safe, than consuming products that will cause diseases, like the milk with campylobacter.